Kernan Elementary off state improvement list

Kernan Elementary School in Utica has been removed from the state’s list of Schools in Need of Improvement based on state assessment tests.

REBECCA CRONISER

Utica’s Kernan Elementary School is back on track when it comes to educating children.

The school was the only one in the Mohawk Valley to be removed from the state’s In Need of Improvement list after improving its state assessment test scores during the 2008-09 school year, according to state data released Thursday.
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“It’s a huge success,” Utica City School District Superintendent James Willis said. “There’s still some work to go though.”

Willis attributed much of the improvement of the school to Principal Henry Frasca who took over the reins at the school last year after leading Watson Williams Elementary School.

Watson Williams also saw a large improvement in test scores under Frasca.

Frasca could not be reached Thursday, but Willis said Frasca’s ability to analyze data and help others see the value of it was key.

“Analyzing data is key for any district,” Willis said. “It allows us to look at individual classrooms, students and track how certain educational tools work.”

The analysis provided guidance for more focused programs and before- and afterschool tutoring, Willis said.

Among the other local highlights of the state list:

* The Utica district’s two middle schools and high school remained on the list again this year, along with the Rome City School District’s Strough Middle School.

* Clough Elementary School in Rome would have remained on the list, but it closed in June.

* Barringer Road Elementary in the Ilion school district was added this year and is the only school in Herkimer County to make the list.

A success story

News of the Kernan’s achievement pleased at least one parent.

“You can see the changes at the school,” said Kim Nelson, who has a child entering the second grade at Kernan. “They’ve been working harder — the teachers and staff — and it’s nice to know the students are learning more because of it.”

Willis said federal stimulus money is being used to help train other staff in the district on how to analyze data as well, so that Kernan’s improvement can be mirrored in other schools.

“We’ve made some positive moves,” Willis said. “All four schools made significant progress. But this isn’t a one-year deal. We have to constantly push.”

The special education and ESL, or English language learners, have been the groups the district has struggled with the most. Utica is the most diverse school district in the area with an estimated 150 refugee students added each year and more than 40 languages spoken among the student population.

Of the three Utica schools still on the watch list, Donovan Middle School, which has been on the list the longest, may work its way off next year.

It takes two years of improved scores to get off the state’s list, and Donovan made improvements in the 2008-09 school year, Willis said.

Calls to Rome and Ilion school officials were not returned Thursday, but Rome Superintendent Jeff Simons has said he believes Strough could be off the list next year.

The state information was released much earlier this year than in the past — just five months after the list of schools on the 2007-08 watch list was released.

State officials said the early release of the 2008-09 information was required for the first time by federal mandate before school started.

The hope is that the information will help schools in planning and programming, and parents in deciding whether to move their child to a different school, which is allowed in all schools that have been on the list for two or more years.